Bita Ghezelayagh's Exhibition and Masterclass

Bita's exhibition at the Collins Gallery was a bit of an eye opener for me, and I was quite astonished to learn that, although she is a feltmaker she had neither made the tunics she exhibited, nor had she done the embroidery.
The work, none the less, was very striking and evokative. I like the Collins Gallery because it is a blank canvas space where each exhibition brings its own atmosphere and I felt the work created an intense emotional presence. At the symposium on Saturday Bita talked with Laura Hamilton about her work and of her Iranian homeland. She called herself 'a gatherer' and the documentary of her shepherds' cloak exhibition highlighted the fragile nature of the feltmakers' status in Iran and how through supporting it with her art works the tradition could still be found. She spoke at length both in the documentary and at the Collins about the conflicting pulls of modern post war Iran with its sophisticated dynamic urban culture threatening the rich cultural heritage through ridicule and rejection of the ancient ways.
The exhibition has now finished at the Collins but is still touring to the Quilt Museum in Yorkshire and Hawick.

An Exhausting Week - Cabin Collective has moved

What an exhausting week we have had. The Cabin Collective has moved! An opportunity came up on the main street in Aberfoyle - a super little shop next door to the Post Office and on Friday in all the wind and rain we moved the fittings and all the stock from the site at the back of the Woollen Mill into the new main street shop.
The week gathered momentum as it progressed! I had a visitor up from England on Wednesday and on Thursday Evelyn and I had been to Diverse Fibres in Hamiltond and so I had been hoping for a nice quiet day on Friday - nothing of the sort! Evelyn, Neil, Alicia and I were up to our ankles in the over enthusiastic rain water rushing back and forth making sure everything got moved safely. We did it and on Saturday I was back into the house modifications which are now at the critical stage of all floors up and most concrete down! Today I have had quite a restful day at the Craft Market at Victoria Hall in Dunblane. This is held on the first Sunday of every month and this month it seemed quite relaxed in comparison to the rest of the week!! Katrina Stewart was also there this week. We meet up from time to time in Edinburgh and I had told her about the market at Dunblane. The quality of the work there is improving all the time. There is too much jewellery, and I just don't get jewellery .... but other craft workers including a brilliant (though rather loud) metal worker, glass makers, a very stylish childrens' dress designer and a couple of artists all in once place - and such a great atmosphere.
Next week I am expecting another visitor midweek - one from the USA this time - think it might be a bit of a culture shock for her to arrive here when the mud is at its best...... and I will have to remember to bring stuff back from the Cabin on Tuesday - that's my day there otherwise there will not be much here to show her.
The Cabin Collective welcomes everyone! Now we are in the main street with a kitchen and a toilet pop in for a cup of coffee and a chat!

The Female Gaze

Delta Studios is an interesting venue. It's situated in an industrial estate near Falkirk and that sounds a bit off putting in some ways, but the place itself is a very creative environment. The top floor is a large open space which can be sub-divided at will to make a customised gallery with plinths and dividers creating the exact ambiance required. The rest of the studio complex is made up of artist studios, a huge teaching area and an artists' materials shop. The opening of The Female Gaze was very well attended and 'the body' caused quite a stir. I was very pleased with it as a first attempt at stiffening and moulding wet felt to create a semi rigid structure. The multiple layers of coloured pre-felt under the overal white give the impression of subcutaneous blood vessels and bruising which give the torso the illusion of recent life. The exhibition was predecated on the perceptions of 'the female' by a group of five women artists working in felt, screen printing, video, photographic manipulation and body adornment and explored the relationship between the external and internal, the perfect and the imperfect, conditioning, states of mind and composure. It was a thought provoking and stimilating experience for us all.

Christmas is a coming in....

What a brilliant weekend I have had at Match a Patch. My bag class was busy with people who had been to the Open Studio Event, a friend who has wanted to do the class for ages and people who had booked in the normal way through Stacey. She is such a fun person and her shop is a total treasure trove for quilting and textile bits and bobs. We had a great laugh and drank lots of tea but everyone made a stunning bag in the colour way they wanted - simple in construction but so beautiful! It was only when I got home that I felt as though I had overdone it a little. I have developed a cold which everyone keeps telling me is the dreaded swine flu but I'm not buying that! I have been very busy lately: I was through in Guthrie, near Forfar with Evelyn for two consecutive Thursdays whilst she did a Poppy class - even got the chance to start a poppy picture myself which will appear here once it's finished....!

Coming up, this week, though is the exhibition. My main piece 'As You See Me/As I Am' (pictured here) was delivered yesterday and hopefully hanging in glory ready for the Preview on Friday. The piece is part of an exhibition called The Female Gaze which is a collaborative project coordinated by Lesley McDermott. It's on at Delta Studios, Lochlands Business Park, Larbert, Falkirk, FK5 3NS from the 10th to 18th October 2009. The preview is on Friday 7.30 - 9.00 if you've time we'd love to see you there.

The End of an Exciting Event

What a week Evelyn and I have had. It has been the Perthshire Open Studio event from the 5th to the 13th September and within the week there have also been two craft fairs in Dunblane - one at the Victoria Hall, as usual on the first Sunday of the month and then one at the re-opening of the prestigious Dunblane Hydro Hotel which has been refurbished at tremendous expense.

The Open Studio was busy every day except Tuesday which was the day that everything was flooded out in our area. We weren't but I think one or two of the roads were closed and people just stayed home... It was a wonderful week with many interesting people to talk to and share with. It was rather hard on Evelyn, though, as it was in her home and studio and so she was under pressure to have everything tidy and her inimitable hospitality is so generous but obviously takes a toll on her over such a protracted period.

I gave a flower making class on Wednesday afternoon, fully intending to photograph the various stages of the process because the ambiance in Evelyn' studio is so nice I thought it would go down well on my website... We were so busy that I didn't get the chance - but I will!

We are now getting chance to get back into our studios - I have so little stock left though I have put a couple of things on Etsy today but my next challenge is the Exhibition - The Feminine Gaze at Delta Studios in Larbert in October - details to follow!

If you want to get ahead get a hat....

The hat I sent to the Royal Highland Show this year did not win any prizes with the judges but I put it on Etsy last week and sold it immediately. I called it Flights of Facy and here's the picture of it. It is made in the traditional 3 layer manner over a resist with a couple of tricky moves to fold back the 'feathers/leaves' for added dramatic effect. It's gone to the USA now, where people are apparently more inclined to wear hats that are something of a statement....!

An interesting flower embelishment or brooch

The flower on the bag on the post on Tuesday is an embelishment that was shown to me by Beth Connors last year when I was down in Rippon. It's one of the flowers I am showing at the class on the 9th September at the Open Studio Event, at Evelyn's - at the class I am going to ask Evelyn to take some pictures so that I can put them on the blog to show how it's done. Watch this space.